New look ‘Centenary’ car back in service at Blackpool

BLACKPOOL Heritage Tram Tours welcomed 1986-built ‘Centenary’ car No. 642 into its operational fleet on August 19, two and a half years after it last ran over the system.

No. 642 failed in January 2016 and subsequently sat in store awaiting its turn in the overhaul queue.

‘Centenary’ car No. 642 waits for departure time at North Pier with the 16.20 Pleasure Beach-Bispham service during its first day back in traffic on August 19. STEVE SIENKIEWICZ

During the spring of this year it entered Rigby Road depot for mechanical repair and a full cosmetic overhaul, which has included the reinstatement of the original-style headlight clusters in the new dash panels.

On August 10, it made its test debut on the famous Promenade, revealing its distinctive ‘Travelcard’ yellow livery, which during the mid-1990s was applied to market a now-defunct range of one to seven-day tickets.

Read more in the October issue of The RM – on sale now!

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